Last year, GeekGirl World attended the Her Universe Fashion show, and it was a spectacular event for geek couture and nerd fashion! Her Universe and fashion retail partner Hot Topic will be hosting their premiere geek couture runway fashion show again this year on July 21 at 6pm at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel during San Diego Comic-Con. The third annual Her Universe Fashion show will once again offer fans and aspiring designers the chance to submit their pop culture inspired designs to compete on the runway for the unique opportunity to design their very own collection exclusively for Hot Topic stores. The Her Universe Fashion Show has been one of the biggest special events at Comic-Con since it’s inception, and this year it is poised to be even bigger as they make bold strides to further enhance the experience of the show.

The submission process is NOW OPEN for up and coming designers 18 years or older. One of the biggest changes this year will be the opportunity for designers in the Southern California area to submit their designs to Her Universe and Hot Topic judges at the Hollywood and Highland location of Hot Topic in Los Angeles on April 23, starting at 10am. If you don’t live in the Southern California area, or can’t make it to the open call, no worries, because ALL designers (including those who attend the open call) will still need to submit their entries online. However, online submissions will now have the additional option of adding a video explanation to present their idea to the judges. Get those submissions ready, folks! The deadline for ALL applications (including those planing to attend in-person at the open call in LA) is 11:59pm PST on Sunday, April 24, 2016. Submit your designs for consideration here! GOOD LUCK!

Original sketches from last year’s winning fashion show designers, Kelly Cercone (Joker’s New Look) and Leetal Platt (Usagi’s Transformation). The design competition submission process for the 2016 Her Universe Fashion Show is now is open for designers to submit their own women’s fashion designs based on anything that is celebrated at Comic-Con, original or inspired by popular media

Once the call for submissions closes, twenty-five designers will chosen and notified on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. These twenty-five finalists will be given the opportunity to compete on the runway in the Her Universe Fashion Show at SDCC for the grand prize. The entire process from start to finish will be filmed as part of a docu-series set to air on the new Comic-Con HQ channel. Plus this year, in addition to the judges choice winner and audience choice winner at the show, a third winner will be selected by the viewers on the Comic-Con HQ channel at home!

Designer Kelly Cercone models her own geek couture design, Joker’s New Look: Batman, which won last year’s Judge’s Choice in the 2015 Her Universe Fashion Show.

“My favorite part of The Her Universe Fashion Show has been getting to know all of the designers behind the scenes…With the new docu-series on Comic-Con HQ, fans will get to know each designer and follow their process and journey to the runway at SDCC. There are so many talented designers out there that just need the opportunity and platform to showcase their skills. I encourage fans to submit and no experience is necessary!”

– Ashley Eckstein, Her Universe Founder

“We always put the fans and community first at Her Universe and the fashion show is an example of our mission.”

Along with her hosting duties for the fashion show, Eckstein will serve as Executive Producer in association with the Ashley and Jennifer Tisdale company, Blondie Girl Productions (Young & Hungry) on the docu-series for the Comic-Con HQ channel.